Be a part of our TEDxAmsterdamED audience

By Mira Gleisberg - Feb 5th, 2015

Attending a TED or TEDx event tends to be a very special opportunity for most people who get the chance to be at an event live. It has been described by one of our past guests as, “a day that leaves you tingling from every nerve ending.” We’d have to agree.

TEDxAmsterdamED takes place on March 26, 2015 at Theater Amsterdam, and registration for tickets will open this week. Our founder and curator, Jessika Lynch, answers all your questions about attending our next TEDx event in the interview below.

What is TEDxAmsterdamED all about, and why is it interesting for me to attend?

The focus of TEDxAmsterdamED is on education, but it is absolutely not a traditional “education conference” or meant just for people working in education. On the contrary, our focus is on (lifelong) learning, innovation, and building a better future through education. This will be a day filled not only with TEDx talks, but also entertainment, facilitated networking, food innovations and a full day of audience experience activities.

If you are someone interested in how our future as a society is taking shape, no matter your age or occupation, then TEDxAmsterdamED is interesting to either attend or watch!

I want to attend the TEDxAmsterdamED event. How can I get a ticket?

Anyone can apply to attend the event live on the 26th of March, and we’ll let you know in early March whether we can provide you with a ticket link.

When you register, we’ll ask you to provide a short motivation about why you’d like to attend. Several of our team members read through every motivation, and make a selection of applicants who we’ll invite to attend.

So you have to apply for a place, then you can buy a ticket? Why does it work that way?

At TEDx, the audience is just as important as the program. And just like each year’s group of speakers, the audience is curated too. This helps ensure a TED-like experience and bring a balanced mix of people to the event. To quote Angela, fellow organizer at TEDxWaterloo:

Curation encourages a dynamic, engaged and interested audience from an entire community: it’s an all-ages, all-stages-of-life event with the only prerequisite is that you are able to articulate in some fashion your interest in the event and your community involvement.

This, as well as space and budget limitations, keep us from being able to invite everyone. We don’t like to say no though, and wish everyone who applied could join the event. We therefore offer the entire event as a free livestream to anyone, anywhere, on the day of the event (more on that later).

OK, so the audience is ‘curated.’ Does that mean I have zero-to-no chance of being invited?

Absolutely not! We are looking for diversity. Passionate people, interested and engaged audience members, and a mix of people from all walks of life. Be yourself as you apply, there’s no need to have a big job title or have attended many TED events in the past.

What is the ticket price, and what does it include? And isn’t TEDx free?

The price for a ticket is 75 euros, with a 50% reduction for students. A limited number of tickets will be further subsidized, and participants who are able will also have the opportunity to buy a 1+1 ticket: one for themselves and another to (anonymously) subsidize one of our other guests.

Most of your ticket has been paid for by our generous partners and the work of our volunteers. A ticket includes the entire day of talks, experience, meals, drinks, and lots of surprises.

Last year TEDxAmsterdamED was still one of the few TED or TEDx events without a ticket price. However, we decided to charge a nominal ticket price this year in order to grow as an event and as a sustainable community, and be able to invite a larger public while still providing an authentic TED-like experience.

What if I don’t get a ticket, or I’m not able to be there for the entire day?

As mentioned, we’ll offer the entire event as a free livestream. You can watch from anywhere in the world by going to our homepage starting at 9.00 on March 26th. If you want to watch with an organized group, we’d love to hear about your plans! education@tedxamsterdam.nl

PS. Registration is only open till March 1 so make sure you apply soon!

Blog written by: Jessika Lynch

Jessika Lynch founded TEDxAmsterdamED with Nephtalie Demei in 2011 with the mission to open education issues to a wider audience and make education understood as a topic that affects the shaping of our future. Jessika has attended numerous TED workshops and the annual TED main event in California. In addition to organizing TEDxAmsterdamED, Jessika has a communications background and creates content, coaches speakers and helps craft authentic stories for people and companies. She has two kids, is married to a teacher, and reads endless articles on innovation and invention.